


Supervillain Backstabber

by quicksilversquared



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, so it's kind of an alternate to that, what happens when a grudge-holder gets targeted by a supervillain, written before Oni-Chan aired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-26 13:05:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19006363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksilversquared/pseuds/quicksilversquared
Summary: Lila Rossi had an understanding of sorts with Paris' head supervillain, Hawkmoth. He would give her powers to take down Ladybug; she would try to get the Miraculous for him. She assumed that their agreement would also grant her immunity from being targeted by any of his other akumas. When it turns out that that isn't the case...Well, Lila never forgives a slight. And she WILL get her revenge.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was written before Oni-Chan aired so is kind of an alternate "what would happen if Lila got targeted by a supervillain" story.

Lila perked up as she spotted an akuma fluttering down through the hallway, no doubt headed straight for some upset student in the school. It flapped and fluttered, forging forward in a straight line that set it apart from any normal butterfly, if the dark aura didn't already do that. _This_ was a butterfly on a mission.

She wasn't going to let it get to its target. Whoever it had been destined for wouldn't _appreciate_ the opportunity like she did.

Glancing around and finding the hallways empty, Lila practically jogged towards the akuma, pulling her necklace off as she did. Once she was close enough, she swung it out. It made contact and the akuma was sucked inside, just like it had been every time before.

It had been _such_ a great discovery when she figured out that she didn't _need_ to be upset to pull an akuma in. Hawkmoth had been using negative emotions because it was _easy_ \- people who were angry or upset wanted to be able to change their situation, wanted the _power_ to be able to change their situation- but all she really needed was to _want_ the butterfly. To want the power that came with it.

She wanted that power. She _craved_ that power.

There was a reason that Lila Rossi was the most frequently akumatized person in Paris, after all, and it _wasn't_ because she was emotional.

" _Volpina. Will you-"_

"Yes, Hawkmoth!" Lila exclaimed at once. "I accept!"

" _Perhaps a different akuma form would be better this time...?"_

Lila shook her head. No, she had tried having a different form before, and it hadn't gone well. She preferred the versatility of her original akuma form. "The same one. I have a _plan_ this time."

" _May I ask what the plan is?_ "

She couldn't keep the smirk off of her lips. It was a _genius_ plan, one that she had spent nights and nights planning. "Just watch and see."

" _Very well_."

The familiar rush of power rushed over her, and Volpina _grinned_ as the weight of her flute appeared in her hand. She tossed it into the air and caught it, head already dancing with visions of what she could do this time. As Lila, she had been brainstorming every night about how she could get Ladybug to trip up the next time she was akumatized. She had come up with some new ideas, and _this_ time?

This time, she would win. Hawkmoth would get his dumb precious Miraculous, and she would get her revenge on Ladybug at _last._ That little self-righteous _brat_ would find out what happened when she stuck her nose where it didn't belong.

None of the _other_ famous people that she had lied about had ever felt the need to some call Lila out for it. It wasn't any of their _business_ , it didn't _affect_ them, and really, why should they care? Besides, Lila _always_ got what she wanted, no matter how she had to get it- lies, bribes, a few well-placed crocodile tears, threats, blackmail. To have the subject of one of her lies come to disprove it within the first _day_ of Lila arriving at a new school...

Well. She wouldn't stand for it. And no matter how many akumatizations it took, she _would_ win.

 

* * *

 

Volpina: Master of Illusion and trickery and, hopefully, tactical planning.

Well. She shouldn't even say _hopefully_ , really. Because this time, Volpina had a foolproof plan.

Front-on attacks never turned out well for her. When Ladybug and Chat Noir knew that she was out, they weren't even a small bit deterred by her illusions anymore. So she had to work behind the scenes, tugging the strings of her illusions to lead the superheroes straight into a trap.

The plan: invent an akuma, one who had powers of vanishing from sight and reappearing elsewhere. After leading the superheroes on a merry chase across Paris, Volpina would surround herself with an illusion to make herself look like Rena Rouge and join the superheroes, kindly offering an extra hand. Once Ladybug and Chat Noir had their guard down, she would strike.

Well. Maybe she would wait until she had them separated. No matter how fast she went, Volpina was pretty certain that the element of surprise wouldn't last for long enough to let her get both Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring. She would go for an earring first, she thought, and take Ladybug out, and then deal with Chat Noir.

Hopefully Hawkmoth was right about Ladybug needing both earrings to stay transformed.

So far, so good. Her plan was running along like clockwork, with her illusion-akuma flickering into existence for long enough for Ladybug and Chat Noir to find and chase it, then vanishing before either of them could catch it. Volpina herself hid herself behind an illusion, watching the chase.

The last time had cut it too close. If Chat Noir's baton had hit her akuma and it exploded in orange smoke, the game would be up.

Originally, Volpina had wanted to give her "akuma" more powers, causing a lot more destruction and panic. But more illusions gave more opportunities for something to disrupt them and give her away, so she had to content herself with a weak but _annoying_ akuma, one that would take a huge chunk out of Ladybug and Chat Noir's day.

" _They're getting frustrated, Volpina_ ," Hawkmoth told her. " _And they've retreated to plan. Whatever you're planning, now might be a good time to move ahead._ "

"Good." Volpina stood up, playing a short tune. Her disguise settled over her, and she made a face at it. She liked _her_ outfit _much_ better than Rena Rouge's, but sacrifices had to be made if she wanted to win. " _Very_ good. I'm going in."

With that, she started off over the rooftops. There were some cheers from the civilians in the streets below as "Rena Rouge" passed overhead, and Lila forced herself to smile and wave.

They weren't the ones that she had to fool, but she had to play the part properly.

It didn't take long for her to find her targets: Ladybug and Chat Noir. They looked up in surprise as she landed, and though she wanted to scowl, Volpina beamed at them.

"Hey, you guys!" she chirped, doing her best to sound like Rena Rouge. She had spent _ages_ practicing in her room, watching the same few news clips over and over until she had the voice down. "I saw the akuma on TV and it seemed like you guys might need a hand to wrap this fight up fast!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a look, something wordless passing between them too fast for Volpina to decipher. Then they turned back to her with twin smiles, nodding at her.

"That sounds good," Chat Noir agreed. "This akuma is really, really slippery. We've almost caught it a few times, only for it to phase away at the last minute."

"Well, with three of us, it should be easy to catch it," Volpina said cheerfully, barely able to hide her glee at how _easy_ it had been to fool the famous superheroes of Paris. They were so _dumb_ , honestly. She almost suggested that the group split up right away, but thought better of it at last minute. Volpina had learned during her first akumatization that Ladybug didn't appreciate other people trying to take charge of the group, so it was better to wait for Ladybug to suggest the _obvious_. "What's the plan?"

"Well, right now, we're waiting for the akuma to show itself again," Ladybug told her. "And we're using the akuma hashtag on Twitter to find it, so that we don't have to do all of the searching ourselves."

Volpina nodded, quickly checking in on her illusion-akuma. It was on the far side of Paris, and she let it expand back into full size. "That's smart."

"So we can catch up in the meantime," Ladybug said cheerfully, and Volpina's friendly expression nearly faltered for a moment. Uh-oh. _This_ wasn't in her plan! But she recovered quickly. She could manage this. "How was your vacation in Martinique?"

...well. Okay. Ladybug was making this easy for her, practically _feeding_ her a lead. So Volpina spun a story, as she did best.

"Oh, it was _lovely!_ " Volpina gushed, beaming. "I spent some time on the beaches, of course. I couldn't go and miss _that_."

Ladybug nodded. "Of course! I wish I could go to the beach. Did you do any crimefighting there?"

Volpina tittered. "Oh, you know me! Just a little. I was on vacation, of course, but there were a few robberies nearby that I simply _had_ to stop."

"We wouldn't expect anything less," Chat Noir chimed in. There was a beep from his baton and he hastily looked down at it. "Akuma spotted by the Louvre! C'mon, let's head over and get a better visual."

They all straightened, Ladybug moving to take the lead and Volpina falling in behind her. She could barely believe how smoothly this was going. The superheroes hadn't looked suspicious for a single second! It was taking every fiber of her willpower for her not to smirk in triumph.

And then everything changed in a heartbeat.

Dark metal flashed through the corner of her vision hardly a moment before Chat Noir's baton made contact with her shoulder, dissolving her illusion disguise in a puff of orange smoke and making her knees buckle under her. She yelped- she had been _discovered?_ How had she been discovered?- and immediately spun to flee, but Ladybug's yo-yo had already pinned her arms down to her side. Snarling, Volpina tried to break free, but it was useless. Ladybug _yanked_ the fake necklace off of Volpina's neck, grinding it to dust under her foot

"Idiot!" Hawkmoth scolded over the shattering connection. "Ladybug gives out the Miraculous to the temporary heroes each time! You should have asked me, I would have told you that!"

Volpina wanted to ask how Hawkmoth knew that, but their connection was gone and her powers were swept away in a whirl of those _stupid_ sparkling ladybugs. Lila glanced up, and was met with the judging stares of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Next time. The next time for _sure_ she would win.

 

* * *

 

Most people could not claim to have any sort of connection with a supervillain. Most people would probably _not_ want a connection. But Lila found it useful. Hawkmoth wanted something, and she wanted something. She could help him with what he wanted, and he could help her.

After all, there was no other way that she could get the superpowers that would put her on Ladybug's level.

Of course, she couldn't get her way _every_ time that she got akumatized. After her failed attempt to impersonate Rena Rouge, Volpina was sidelined for a bit, and Lila's next two transformations were both different akumas with different powers. Neither were any more successful than Volpina or Chameleon.

Still, Hawkmoth knew that she was there, and if he needed Volpina's powers again, she was more than willing to step up. They were _allies_.

And then an akuma appeared that was targeting _her_ , and Lila was _furious_.

"Don't you know who I _am?_ " she snapped, in case Hawkmoth somehow wasn't paying enough attention to notice that he had sent an akuma after his _ally_ , thank-you-very-much, but the words didn't seem to make a single difference.

"Do I know who you _are?_ " the akuma- who _cared_ what their name was, it was stupid anyway- asked, a taunting tone to their voice. "Yes, Lila Rossi, I know who you are. And I know _what_ you are- a dirty, thieving _liar!_ "

"Ask Hawkmoth, then!" Lila shot back, hoping that there was no one in earshot. "Ask him what he thinks of you attacking me?"

The answer, evidently, was that Hawkmoth didn't care. He didn't _care_ that he was endangering his most frequent and most willing akuma. He didn't _care_.

This. Meant. _War_.

Hawkmoth was going to find out the hard way that Lila Rossi did _not_ get go of grudges. She never forgot a wrong. And she was going to do whatever she could to get back at him.

But she wasn't going to partner herself with Ladybug to do that. No, Ladybug was still going down, too. Lila was going to take _both_ of their Miraculous, and then Chat Noir's, too, just because he was Ladybug's partner and defender.

It was going to be hard. But Lila could do it.

And she was going to start with that _backstabber_ Hawkmoth.

 

* * *

 

Lila spent the remainder of the school year with one focus and one focus only: research. And not her _normal_ research, figuring out what famous people would most impress the people around her. No, this was research about _Hawkmoth._

It wasn't hard to find a list of all of the known akumatized villains- despite the fact that it was undoubtedly a fangirl gossip blog, the _Ladyblog_ did at least have a easy-to-find complete list of all of the akumas (with the sole exception, it noted, of some of the new akumas on Heroes Day). With a little bit of work (aka visiting all of the links that the Ladyblog had for each of the akumas), Lila found approximate locations- or approximate _presumed_ locations- of where all of the akumatizations had taken place, and she plotted it on the Paris map that she had pinned to one wall. They were fairly tightly clustered, actually, and made a _vaguely_ circular shape, if she ignored the outliers.

So she had her area to stake out. Once school let out for the summer, she could dedicate her every waking hour to tracking down and _destroying_ the supervillain traitor.

_Day 1_

It wasn't hard to get out of the house without questions. Lila had told her mom that she was spending a bunch of time with her friends at school, and she had told the other students that she would be spending much of the summer abroad, of course. Both parties had accepted it without question.

As soon as she was out of the apartment, Lila tied her hair up- there was no point in giving herself away with her distinctive hairstyle- and then she hid her hair and face under a hat and sunglasses before heading out onto the street, following a predetermined path (designed, of course, to avoid going past any of her classmates' homes or frequent haunts- not that they would be up at this time anyway, but it didn't hurt to be careful) to the building that Lila had picked out to be her starting point. Then she hauled herself up onto the fire escape and _climbed_.

And climbed, and climbed, and climbed. The benefit of such a tall building meant that she would have a _fantastic_ vantage point.

By the time Lila reached the top and carefully scoped the place out for security cameras (there were two that she would have to avoid, but that would be easy enough), it was hot and Lila was sticky with sweat. She couldn't let it distract her, though- she _wouldn't_ let it distract her- and so she took a hearty swig from one of the water bottles that she had packed before settling down with the pair of binoculars that her father had once bought her.

And then she started searching.

Narrowed eyes scanned the skyline, looking for any akumas, and irritated fingers refreshed her news feed every so often, hoping that she hadn't missed seeing an akuma on her very first day out. She hadn't, and so Lila returned her gaze to the city, searching, searching, searching, _searching_.

Sweat ran down her brow and her eyes stung from the sweat, the strain of looking through her binoculars for so long, and the glare of the sun on the city buildings. Still, Lila _refused_ to give up.

Hawkmoth had wronged her, and she _would_ get her revenge.

Lunch passed by in a miserable haze of warmed water and a hastily thrown-together sandwich, and then Lila returned to her post. Another two hours passed, and then- and then!- she got lucky. A dark flutter caught her eye, and Lila focused her attention on it. A corrupted butterfly was headed over the rooftops, making a beeline for whoever had caught Hawkmoth's attention this time. Lila tracked its path for a few seconds, then focused her attention on where it had come from.

So. Hawkmoth's lair was in that direction, unless he was smart enough to move from one place to another between attacks. Somehow, Lila doubted that that was the case. If he were that smart, he would have won already.

So she could move over to the building that she had first spotted the akuma by the next day. It wasn't as high as her current building, but any progress was good progress.

With the akuma spotted, Lila could relax. She moved down into the shade- to wait until she could go home. There would be too many people in the building for her to risk going down now.

Day One had been a success.

_Day Two_

Getting up onto this fire escape had been harder. It required a bit of creative stacking with the garbage bags in back of the building- and hadn't _that_ been an unpleasant experience?- before Lila could haul herself up. Then she had had to watch her step the entire way up to make sure that she didn't step on any of the particularly rusted portions of the steps.

Lila had to hope that she would be successful at finding an akuma today, too. She _really_ didn't want to have to do this again. This building was _awful_.

And then her only akuma sighting all day was when Ladybug's purified butterfly went fluttering overhead early in the day. Lila cursed and slumped against the rooftop.

Sure, she had expected that there might be a few days when an akuma went in a different direction, but did it have to happen _already?_

Lila was serving herself a big bowl of ice cream once she got off of this god-forsaken building.

_Day Five_

Trying to track down Hawkmoth's lair, Lila was finding, was easier said than done. It had taken three tries to get off of her second building, and she had only really been able to move about half a block.

And now it was threatening to rain. _Ugh_.

Lila had to admit that at least the cloud cover meant that it was easier to look through her binoculars for hours on end. The glare of the sun off of the Paris buildings was gone, and she could scan up and down the rows of buildings easily. But the ease-ability of scanning didn't make a single whit of difference when Hawkmoth wasn't sending any akuma out.

And then it started to rain. The first sprinkles had Lila scrambling for her umbrella- she was going to be up here all day, she couldn't _afford_ to get wet- and then the skies _opened_.

She wouldn't be able to see any akuma in all of this mess. Lila huffed, hoping that maybe the rain would clear up and _then_ Hawkmoth would send the akuma out. Then she could be one step closer, reaping the rewards for being out in all of this mess.

The screams that started up mid-rainstorm ended that hope pretty quickly.

"Ugh, another day wasted," Lila complained, glaring at the growing puddles around her. Who had designed this rooftop? They had done an _awful_ job. Lila was willing to bet that the top floor had to deal with leaks all the time. " _Again._ "

If she were a lesser person, Lila would have given up then and there. But _no one_ double-crossed her without living to regret it, and supervillains would be no different.

_Day 7_

Another day, another failure. This time, Hawkmoth had gone the entire day without akumatizing anyone. It meant that Lila had spent the entire day waiting for _nothing_.

Still, the day hadn't been _entirely_ wasted. Lila had spent the time _planning_.

Once she found out who Hawkmoth was, then she still had to take him down before her revenge would be properly complete. She wouldn't be able to do it without magic powers, that was for sure, but Lila _refused_ to be akumatized again just to try. She could recognize that even _attempting_ to go after Hawkmoth while akumatized would just result in him pulling his powers back- he could do that, she had seen it- and then she would be in trouble. No, she needed a Miraculous.

That didn't leave her with many options. She could try to take Ladybug or Chat Noir's Miraculous, but the only way that would be even _remotely_ possible would be if she were akumatized, which...nope. She could try to figure out where Ladybug got the extra Miraculous from, but that would require _way_ too much luck to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe she could try getting the Miraculous from one of the less experienced Miraculous holders but again... _how?_

That left her with one option. Steal the Miraculous from the one extra team member who was _dumb_ enough to out herself to the whole of Paris. There would be very little room for error- if Ladybug and Chat Noir were in the area, they might be able to grab Lila before she could transform- but it was her best shot. Her _only_ shot.

At least she should have _plenty_ of time to pull that off.

_Day 10_

Lila was starting to wonder if Hawkmoth was purposefully sending akumas away from her. It seemed like she only spotted the akumas every few days, which meant that the rest of the time she spent baking away on too-hot tar rooftops with the bright sun beating down on her.

Of course, if she tried going around to another side of Hawkmoth's lair...well, there would be no guarantee that she was on the right track, would there? So she stayed where she was.

She _would_ have tried to enlist some help- the Ladyblogger probably could have been roped into the stakeouts without much effort at all, and maybe some of her other classmates, too- but the more people she enlisted, the less control she would have over the information they learned once she found Hawkmoth's lair. The Ladyblogger would no doubt insist on running right to the superheroes with the information, and no doubt _they_ would then get all the glory instead of Lila.

Besides, at this point, her classmates all thought that she was sunbathing on the beach off of the coast of Florida. She couldn't backtrack on that now even if she _wanted_ to, not unless she wanted to deal with a whole boatload of questions.

The day dragged on, and still Lila never left the rooftop. With every passing hour, she mentally added another slew of punches to the beating that she would give Hawkmoth once she found his stupid, backstabbing self. The only thing that lifted her spirits was the spotting of another butterfly late in the afternoon.

No matter how little it was, at least she was making progress.

_Day 20_

Lila hadn't thought that it would take this long. She had thought that it would be a week of stakeouts- two, tops- and then she would have her target. Then she would have to steal a Miraculous and go in and get her vengeance.

She was getting closer. At least she could say that much. But it wasn't _fast_ enough.

But Lila Rossi was no quitter. Hawkmoth had made her bake (or drown, or practically get blown off of the top of the building) for _twenty days_ now, and he was going to _pay_.

It was unfortunate that no one would find out who was responsible for Hawkmoth's defeat, really. She would _gladly_ bask in that glory. But it would require letting her classmates know that she actually _had_ been in Paris for the summer, which- well, Lila had already decided that that was a no. Being publicly involved and becoming famous would mean that her entire life would be put under a lens, too, and... well, she preferred to not be too closely examined, because her stories wouldn't hold up. And probably worst of all for her image, going would mean that all of Paris would know that she had stolen a Miraculous. She wouldn't be able to take Ladybug down.

There were enough people who hero-worshiped Ladybug that _that_ would pose a problem for her.

Of course, Lila mused as she scanned the horizon again, she could claim to be an _inside source_. Everyone would eat up the scoop she served. Now, how best to frame it...?

Then it hit her, a stroke of inspiration. Lila could say that the person who took the Bee was a keeper of the Miraculous, or at least had handed them out. They had noticed that Ladybug and Chat Noir were making no attempts at making _any_ progress towards taking Hawkmoth down in order to serve their _own_ purposes- getting famous as heroes- so she had to take things into her own hands. It had taken weeks- she would mention the suffering that she had had to do, unprotected by any Miraculous since Ladybug and Chat Noir had asked for all that she had- but she found Hawkmoth and defeated him, then reclaimed the other two Miraculous, but not without a fight. Ladybug and Chat Noir had seemed _such_ promising candidates at the start, but alas, the fame went to their heads and they didn't want to give up the source of that fame.

Some might question it, but by then there would be no _verifiable_ Ladybug or Chat Noir to dispute the claims. And the new Bee would come in to back up Lila's story, and it wouldn't be long before Ladybug and Chat Noir's legacy was _thoroughly_ ground into the mud.

Lila was so gleeful about her idea that she forgot to be careful on her way back home at the end of the day. As she passed a block of apartment buildings, she heard her name being called out and she froze.

No. No, this couldn't be happening. She couldn't be _discovered_ now!

Alya was jogging towards her, and Lila realized now where she was- outside of Alya's apartment building. Her classmate had apparently been with her family, heading out on some outing.

Lila should have been more careful. She _knew_ that she had to avoid certain areas, and- oh, she didn't even have her sunglasses on! No wonder Alya had noticed her.

"I _knew_ I recognized you!" Alya was saying gleefully. "I would give you a hug, but I'm all sweaty and gross. I thought you were out of the city for the summer!"

"I am," Lila said hastily as an idea came to mind. She deserved a short break, after all. "But my mom and I came back to Paris for a couple days before we head off to London to spend some time with the royal family. We had to wash everything and repack, of course, because the weather isn't _quite_ the same and we wouldn't want to freeze with all of the rain in London."

"But you didn't say a thing about that!"

"Well, we didn't know for sure when we would be back, of course," Lila said, pasting on her sunniest smile. "And by the time I knew, well, I was _sure_ that everybody would already have plans and I didn't want to disrupt anything for anyone- I didn't want to be an inconvenience-"

"Oh, Lila, you're _far_ too thoughtful," Alya chided fondly. "It's no inconvenience for us to add one more person to our outings for a couple days! I'll text you our plans- how long are you going to be here for?"

Lila gave it a moment of thought. She deserved a break, sure, but she also _had_ to get this whole Hawkmoth thing dealt with before the end of the summer, unless she wanted to risk claiming that she was traveling again. Which left her with... "Two more days, and then I'm off again."

"Oh, great! Our class- well, except for Chloe, because she's on vacation- is getting together tomorrow for a big picnic in the park. Everyone is going to be so excited to see you!"

"What should I bring?" Lila worried, pasting a concerned look on her face. "I mean, I don't exactly have a lot of time to prepare or anything-"

Alya cut her off again with a firm shake of her head. "Just bring yourself! And a plate and fork to eat off of. You'll be there, right?"

Lila thought about the rooftop she had spent the entire day on, and the way that it had been so hot that her entire shirt was soaked with sweat by the middle of the morning. She had eaten a stale sandwich with warm water.

"Yeah," she told Alya. "I'll be there."

_Day 21_

For once, Lila slept in. Once she got up, she divided her hair into her old hairstyle- and kept it that was as she left the apartment.

It felt nice. Still, she couldn't resist glancing up at the rooftops out of habit, looking for any akumas. There weren't any, of course- she wasn't particularly near Hawkmoth's lair right now- but it was habit by now. That, and looking for routes up to the rooftops on buildings.

Once she got to the park, Lila was greeted by several excited classmates. She flashed a smile at them and immediately dove into her prepared stories, telling them that she had spent time with several American celebrities at the beach. She had a captive audience, and Lila was _thrilled_. She was in her zone, absolutely thriving.

And then a voice cut off the end of Lila's story.

"That sounds _fake_."

" _Super_ fake," a second voice chimed in, and Lila whipped around to face the dual naysayers. She blinked when she came face-to-face with a pair of identical- and identically doubtful- faces.

 _Aha_. There was a _reason_ why she had always hated little kids.

"It's all true!" Alya told the twins, and it took a second for Lila to realize that _oh, drat, her sisters_. "Lila's parents are diplomats and she gets to meet _super_ famous people all the time! She's met Jagged Stone-"

"So? So did you. So did Mom."

" _And_ Prince Ali-"

"So did Mom. She taught him how to cook!"

"And-"

The girls yawned in _scary_ unison. "Who _cares?_ "

"I'm so sorry about them," Alya said quickly as her sisters trotted off. "They're not old enough to understand."

Lila hoped that her smile wasn't too stiff. "Right, right, of course."

Alix and Kim arrived, clearly bickering over something, and Lila welcomed the interruption. It took the spotlight off of her for a moment, though it didn't stay off for long. People wanted to hear about what she had done and who she had met, of course, and then there were questions about where she would go next. Lila managed it all with a smile, though she was starting to feel a bit tired.

She had forgotten how much _work_ it was to remember all of her stories and keep them straight. She had to be on the ball all the time, not slacking off for a single second. An hour in, she thought that she might be able to sit back and enjoy the day when another reminder of why she couldn't slip up at all caught her attention.

Adrien and Marinette, hanging back at the fringes of the group. Neither of them looked particularly impressed by her presence.

All at once, Lila remembered that oh, yes- her _revenge_ list didn't _just_ include supervillains and superheroes. Adrien and Marinette had _both_ tried to point out her lies, with Marinette's attempts being much more direct than Adrien's. Once she got the Butterfly, she'd try to give herself Volpina's powers again to create illusions that would discredit them to the class and to all of Paris forever.

Was it too much? She didn't think so.

There was no need to disrupt her lies. No need to make her life harder. And everyone who did...

Well, they would pay.

_Day 27_

The relaxation from her days off didn't last long. After a couple more days baking up on rooftops in the sun, Lila had all but forgotten the taste of the fresh, cool watermelon and chilled lemonade that she had had at the picnic.

At this rate, she was going to end up with sunstroke. That was, if she didn't hurt herself getting up onto the rooftops first.

Lila groaned as an explosion sounded from the far side of the city. An akuma, no doubt. She hadn't spotted the corrupted butterfly at _all_ , which meant that she wasn't close enough yet to the lair to be able to see it no matter what.

She would have hoped that she would be _that_ close, at least, but no such luck. Not yet. But she wasn't giving up.

Spite was a strong, _strong_ motivator.

As she waited, the sounds of fighting drifted through the city. Lila ignored it- at least until it got closer.

And closer, and closer.

Lila couldn't hold back the swear that fell from her lips when she spotted the superheroes chasing the akuma straight towards her. They were running across the rooftops, and on this particular apartment building...

Well, there was nowhere to hide. That left her with only one option.

In a panic, Lila gathered up all of her things and rushed for the fire escape. She didn't go down far- she didn't have time, and rushing would just make the fire escape clang loudly- but it was enough to get her out of the superheroes' field of vision. The fight tumbled overhead, and Lila breathed a sigh of relief once it was gone.

That was _far_ too close. She had to be more careful. If Ladybug or Chat Noir spotted her, they would no doubt report her to the building manager like the nosy idiots that they were.

"Hey! You! What are you doing up there?"

...that was, if she didn't get caught herself.

_Day 35_

Thankfully, all of Paris was dumb. As it turned out, all Lila had to do was invent some made-up project that required her to stake out on rooftops for several days at a time, and she got permission and even help. Both were absolutely _invaluable_ now that she was firmly in a residential area and getting up on top of the townhouses that made up the area was a _lot_ harder than getting onto apartment and office buildings.

She was getting closer, she could just feel it. Even though it was slow, she _was_ making progress. There was no backtracking or akumas coming from unexpected directions, which meant that she was _close_.

Hawkmoth was going to regret ever sending an akuma after her.

Lila surveyed the ground from her newest perch. It overlooked a small park, the Agreste mansion, and a few other smaller buildings. It was open enough that when a butterfly showed up, she would be able to see it coming from _ages_ away. It would be her biggest leap yet.

Well, once a butterfly actually showed. She had been up on this rooftop for a day already and had gotten nothing. But Hawkmoth rarely went two days in a row without akumatizing anyone, so today she was _sure_ to get something.

Late in the afternoon, she finally did. A flicker of movement caught Lila's eye, and she looked over in time to see a butterfly slowly working its way up into the air above the Agreste mansion. Once it had gained some height, it fluttered away.

And Lila's eyes _narrowed_. Unless she was _very_ much mistaken, that butterfly had come _out_ of the Agreste manor. And when she looked closer, she spotted it: a small opening in the dome on top of the house, something that _definitely_ hadn't been there before.

 _This_ was interesting. The esteemed Agreste family had some skeletons in their closet, it seemed.

And Lila was going to uncover them _all_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 coming next week! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
> 
> As always, reviews make my day!!! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Lila takes going off the deep end to the next level.

* * *

The next part of Lila's plan unfortunately required more stakeouts on top of rooftops. Now that they were reaching the hottest part of the summer and the sun was beating down overhead, all she wanted to do was find an air-conditioned building and hide inside of it all day. Either that, or escape to the beach and spend most of the day splashing in the water.

But she wasn't going to do that. No, Lila had a plan, and she intended to _stick to it._

Hiding out on the rooftop of the Grand Paris was both harder and more exasperating than Lila had expected it to be. She had to dress up to make it pass the doorman, work her way up to the rooftop, and then shed the gaudy, bulky parts of her disguise in order to effectively hide in the foliage on the roof, where _everyone_ who had half a brain cell knew that Chloe always waited with her bee-light during akuma battles, waiting for the superheroes to come give her the Bee Miraculous. It didn't happen often- Ladybug and Chat Noir tended to take care of akumas on their own most of the time, and when they didn't they seemed to favor the temporary superheroes who _weren't_ the most spoiled brat in all of Paris- but it _did_ happen on occasion.

And Lila had to wait for that. With every hot, humid, _sweaty_ , uncomfortable day that Lila spent on that rooftop, her anger grew. If Hawkmoth had just managed to honor their partnership, as strange as it was- if Ladybug had just _kept her nose out of it_ and not made Lila into an akuma in the first place- if- if-

She should have been reaping the rewards of having most of the school wrapped around her pinky finger right now, attending picnics and invited to pool parties and sleepovers every day. But instead, Lila was sitting on a rooftop, trying not to attract any attention.

They were _all_ going to pay for this.

Each akuma fight made her sit up and take notice. With every boring, underpowered, _uncreative_ akuma that came out, she slumped. Chloe wouldn't be needed for those.

And then came D-Day. An akuma that was just a little too much for Ladybug and Chat Noir alone. Chloe cheered when she spotted Chat Noir heading for the Grand Paris, and Lila rolled up onto the balls of her feet, making sure that her hat and sunglasses were firmly in place. They would hide her face from view, and the long ponytail that she had pulled her hair into instead of her usual three-part style would keep her identity safe.

She was ready. She had to be. Thankfully, Chat Noir seemed to be in a hurry.

"Catch!" he yelled as he touched down for a moment, tossing a small box at Chloe. She nearly fumbled it. "Transform and meet us near the Eiffel Tower!"

Chloe nodded eagerly, opening the box. Something round and yellow popped out, but Lila knew that her target- the bee comb- was still in the box. With Chloe distracted by the yellow blob and Chat Noir already heading off, Lila had her chance. Popping up, she sprinted with all of her might across the rooftop. Her muscles complained after being still for so long, but Lila ignored them as she reached out and _grabbed_ the box, pinning the comb down with her thumb as she ripped the Miraculous out of an unsuspecting Chloe's hands.

"Stop!" she heard Chloe scream. "Come back here _right now!_ Thief!"

Up ahead, Chat Noir paused mid-air, turning around. Lila didn't wait to see what his reaction was. Instead, she shoved the comb into her hair, calling out the phrase that Chloe had oh-so-helpfully shared with the world during her superhero vlogs.

_"Pollen, transform me!"_

_This_ rush of magic felt much more potent than her akuma transformations. Sting grinned and took to the air, her wings- why Queen Bee didn't have them, she didn't know and didn't care- beating furiously. Before Chat Noir could fully turn around, Sting was off, dodging between buildings until she reached street level. Once she reached an alley, she detransformed. Lila slid the Miraculous back into the box and pocketed it, smirking the whole way.

Phase Two was complete. Hawkmoth was going to regret ever crossing her, and then, once he fell... well, the superheroes of Paris wouldn't be far behind.

 

* * *

 

The news was all over Paris: the Bee Miraculous had been stolen from Chloe Bourgeois. No one knew who had done it, or why. After the escape, the new Bee hadn't been seen.

Public opinion was mixed, Alya had texted Lila. Some people were worried that someone connected to Hawkmoth had stolen the extra Miraculous. Some thought it was a foreign curiosity-seeker, because who else would risk the wrath of Ladybug and Chat Noir once they were found?

Others, much to Lila's surprise, were of the opinion that someone taking Chloe's Miraculous was long overdue. After all, she hadn't exactly been picked so much as she had taken the Miraculous for herself, and now she had at least a _little_ experience as part of the superhero team, so Ladybug and Chat Noir kept using her. She wasn't much of a hero, particularly outside of the superhero suit. Whoever had taken it _had_ to be better, right?

Most people were holding out to see what the new Bee would be like before they formed their opinion. After all, they hadn't joined the superheroes during that fight.

The other news- which Lila had already heard, because it was impossible _not_ to- was that the mayor had dedicated a special police force to finding the thief and getting Chloe's Miraculous back. They were going over the video footage, trying to pick out any distinguishing features.

It was a _really_ good thing that Lila had been wearing an outfit that she had gotten from a thrift store and had been able to toss. Her mom wouldn't recognize her, and neither would any of her classmates.

She let the fervor die down for a few days, then took the Miraculous out again. Once again, the yellow orb formed and a small figure appeared in it. It frowned.

" _You_ aren't my Queen."

"I'm your new owner. The last one was inadequate." Lila surveyed the small being. From Chloe's videos, she was assuming that this was the bee _kwami,_ aka Pollen. "And I'm going to defeat Hawkmoth."

Pollen frowned. "Then are you going to join Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

" _No_." Lila couldn't help the dark scowl that flashed over her face. She rushed to hide it, though, because this _Pollen_ could be a valuable source of information if she played her cards right. "They only battle the akumas. I've spent the _entire_ summer up on rooftops, tracking down the source of the akumas. And I've found it."

Pollen gasped. "You found- you found Hawkmoth?"

"Right. Unlike _Ladybug and Chat Noir_ , I actually put in the effort to find him. And I'm going to take him down." Lila leaned forward, fixing Pollen with a steady look. "And to win, I need you to tell me _everything_ about this Miraculous."

 

* * *

 

Preparing for the final battle took another two weeks, weeks in which Lila spent transforming in the dead of the night and practicing her fighting on the rooftops. Pollen had told her about all of the Bee's powers- which really weren't that impressive, if Lila were being honest- and Lila needed them honed to _perfection_. During that time, her relationship with Pollen got tenser.

The kwami had never been happy about the thief of the Miraculous, which was _ridiculous_ considering that Chloe had pretty much stolen it in the first place. Lila's refusal to work with Ladybug and Chat Noir had the kwami further on edge, particularly when Lila refused to divulge _why_ she was so against working with the superheroes. Lila didn't trust the kwami with Hawkmoth's identity, either.

And then she had discovered that Pollen had to do whatever she commanded. There was an order in all of her questions now, and the kwami had to answer.

Unfortunately, Lila learned nothing new from that. Pollen had already told her about all of the Bee's powers that she could access, and knew only the same things as the public did about Hawkmoth and his powers. She hadn't been holding anything back.

Lila really, _really_ wished that Chloe had had the Fox Miraculous instead. Now _that_ she could do something with.

With the end of summer starting to appear on the horizon, Lila knew that she had to act if she wanted to take out Hawkmoth _and_ the superheroes before school started up again. So she transformed and flew over to the Agreste manor one evening, readying herself for the fight. Ten minutes of looking in the windows and prowling around the outside of the mansion told her that Adrien was out- no doubt with his annoying lie-detecting sidekick- and Mr. Agreste was nowhere to be seen.

He _had_ to be in his lair. She had come at a good time.

Sting flew over the manor, taking advantage of the falling gloom to keep herself out of sight. Her dark outfit would keep her hidden against the rooftops, for the most part, and if anyone noticed her hopefully they would assume that she was Chat Noir.

Not that it would matter soon enough.

It wasn't long at all before the tiny window that she had noticed before opened. Before any akuma could come out, Sting threw her trompo forward and smashed the rest of the glass before flying in as fast as she possibly could. She landed in front of a clearly startled Hawkmoth and _smirked._

"I am Sting... and your time is _up._ "

Hawkmoth staggered back a step in surprise, then grabbed his walking stick and pulled a sword out of it. His eyes narrowed. "How did you find-?"

Sting scoffed. "Like it was hard to find. I just had to figure out where the akumas were coming from."

Hawkmoth's smile was anything but friendly as he took a fighting stance. Sting mirrored him. "How _smart_ of you. And why, may I ask, did you bother to track me down? No one else in Paris has even tried."

"Because you _betrayed_ me, you no-good backstabber," Venom spat. "I helped you so many times, and what did that get me? Nothing but on the Miraculous Watch List! You _still_ sent an akuma villain after me!"

Hawkmoth's eyes widened, then narrowed as he glared at her. "Volpina."

"It's _Sting_ now, and I'm here to get my revenge! Now say good-bye to your Miraculous!"

As she charged, Sting saw Hawkmoth smirk. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you, _Sting_."

Her trompo connected with his sword, and Sting yanked on the cord to pull Hawkmoth's weapon out of his grasp. Instead of it flying into her hand, Hawkmoth yanked back and Sting went stumbling towards him. Once she got close enough, his foot connected with her middle and she was flung back, hitting the wall hard and slumping to the floor.

 _No!_ She couldn't fail like this! She _refused_. She had trained and trained for two entire weeks. Sting refused to lose to a backstabbing _traitor_.

Grimacing, Sting pushed herself up. "You'll pay for this, Hawkmoth."

"I rather think I won't. But _you_ will learn what happens to intruders in my lair." Hawkmoth pushed a button, and several panels on the wall opened. Something slid out, and it took Sting a moment to place them.

 _Missiles._ What had she gotten herself _into_?

Sting's hand tightened around her weapon, and with a start she remembered that she was protected by a super-suit. If Ladybug and Chat Noir could get thrown around Paris every day and come out without a single scratch, she wasn't in danger from a couple measly _missiles_. They were meant as a distraction, and she would _not_ fall for it.

Gritting her teeth, Sting charged again. This time, she _did_ manage to pull the sword away from Hawkmoth. A second of trying told her that she couldn't break it, so instead she flung it out of the broken window with all of her might. Sting gave herself a mental pat on the back and turned back to attack Hawkmoth.

She never got there.

A _click_ and a hiss were all the warning she got before a missile hit her right in the middle of the back and sent her flying into another wall. Sting scrambled away before it could explode, only to get caught by another, then another. Her head was spinning as she tried to crawl away.

How- how had it gone this _wrong?_ What was _happening?_

"Little baby superhero thinks that she can go up against a supervillain and _win_ ," Hawkmoth taunted. "How foolish. All you've done is deliver another Miraculous straight into my hands."

"I'm no super _hero_ ," Sting spat, activating Venom. "And I'm not done with you yet-"

Hawkmoth laughed, just as another missile hit her. The trompo clattered across the floor, and Sting had a moment to panic before her head hit the wall yet again and the world started fading. "Big words from someone who couldn't even land a hit."

And then the world went black.

 

* * *

 

Lila woke up in a hospital bed. She blinked her eyes open and tried to glance around, but regretted it immediately.

Everything _hurt_.

"Don't try to move. You took some pretty hard hits."

Lila gasped and turned her head anyway. There, standing in one corner of the room, was a police officer. A nurse stood behind her, looking worried.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir rescued you," the police officer informed Lila, and she had to resist the urge to scowl. Of _course_ they had. "They defeated Hawkmoth and brought the two of you in. And I have to inform you that you're wanted by the police for the thief of the Bee Miraculous."

Her brain was working a little slower than usual, but as soon as the police officer's words sunk in, Lila began to sniffle. "After all I did to track Hawkmoth down? The superheroes never would have found him if it weren't for me!"

The nurse looked uncomfortable, but the officer remained stoic. "You could have informed the superheroes of his location instead of stealing a Miraculous to try to take him on yourself. Ladybug and Chat Noir have testified that they knew nothing of your research or plans, and that they only found you and Hawkmoth because of the noise from his missiles. They said that your actions could have given Hawkmoth another Miraculous and endangered the entire city."

Lila turned up the tears. "I t-tried to tell them and they didn't want to listen to me! They said that I was just searching for fame and not to w-waste their time and now they're _lying_ to save face. What other option did I _have?_ "

"You'll have to tell that to the judge, I'm guessing." The police officer nodded to the nurse and then left. Lila stared after her, disbelieving.

They- they couldn't _possibly_ still be thinking of going through with charging her, could they? That just- that wasn't fair at all! The public should be thanking her, admiring her bravery and commitment to taking Hawkmoth down.

"I'm sure the charges won't go far, dear," the nurse assured her once the door closed. "It's just that the mayor and his daughter always throw a fit over any perceived wrong. The public will be thrilled over Hawkmoth's defeat, and they won't care so much over how it happened."

Lila played up the sniffles. _This_ was someone who she could get on her side. "I r-really hope you're right, because I just- I just wanted to _help_ -"

"And you did. Hawkmoth is gone, and Ladybug and Chat Noir saved the day once again." The nurse smiled as she raised the bed so that Lila could sit up, missing the flash of anger that flashed over Lila's face. Of _course_ the superheroes were getting all of the credit. That's just what they always did, didn't they? "I hear that it was a hard fight. I don't think that they landed in the hospital, though."

Lila did her best not to say anything to that.

"And your mom should be on the way," the nurse continued, oblivious to her internal rage. "She was getting briefed by the doctors on the care that you'll need once- well, once you're discharged. That certainly won't be right away."

 _That_ pulled Lila out of her increasingly murderous thoughts. _Briefing?_ And she wasn't getting discharged right away? That didn't sound good. Her mom wouldn't need to be briefed for a little concussion, would she? "Care?"

This time, the nurse's wince wasn't hidden at all. "I- yes. You see, what the superheroes said probably happened was that your Miraculous got dislodged during that last throw, and you started detransforming as you hit the wall. And I'm sorry to tell you that there were some spinal injuries. If- if you're _very_ lucky, with therapy, you may be able to walk again, but it could take quite a while and-"

This time, Lila's tears were real.

 

* * *

 

Apparently the nurses thought that Lila wanted to watch the endless coverage about Hawkmoth's defeat, or maybe that was all that was on TV. Three days after she woke up, Lila was stuck watching some annoying news anchor chatter on about how Mr. Agreste's home was currently being combed from top to bottom and a second Miraculous had been confiscated by the superheroes, one belonging to Mayura, Hawkmoth's ally from Heroes Day. Mr. Agreste's secretary was being taken in for questioning on suspicion of assisting a supervillain. The investigation into Mrs. Agreste's disappearance was being more closely examined, and investigators hoped to get a break soon. The superheroes were on scene 24/7, of course, and had been joined by Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, and a little old superhero called Jade Turtle as they searched for clues.

The gushing over the superheroes was going to make Lila ill, and she only refrained from turning the TV's incessant chattering off because she needed to know what the current story was in order to make up her own. She would have to explain several things: why she had started hunting Hawkmoth down, why she hadn't just gone to Ladybug and Chat Noir instead of taking a Miraculous, and, to her classmates, why she had been in the city instead of in London or- actually, no, she had said that she was meeting with some people in Sweden now, she thought.

So far, it looked like Lila could keep on using the sob story that she had come up with upon waking up: that she had wanted to help the city, of course, and had spent weeks and weeks tracking down Hawkmoth's lair, only to have the superheroes brush off her claims all because she had been akumatized more often than the average person (because she was the victim of _bullying_ , boo-hoo, and she was always so hurt when people called her a liar). She had taken things into her own hands, and bravely ventured into Hawkmoth's lair alone. She had wanted to call for backup, of course, but had been worried that Ladybug and Chat Noir would ignore her again, and now she had a permanent back injury as a result.

(It... _maybe_ , possibly, might not be permanent. The doctors had said that she might be able to recover, but Lila had seen the looks they had exchanged. Full recovery wasn't likely.)

That story was what she had told the police, and the hospital staff, and her mom. As a result, Lila's mom was considering a lawsuit against the superheroes, since their "inaction" had pushed Lila into a situation where she had gotten super hurt.

Even if Lila couldn't take Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous like she had initially planned, she _could_ still drag their names through the mud.

That afternoon, a reporter came to visit Lila, and she happily fed Madam Chamack the story that she had come up with. She looked shocked at Lila's story, but dutifully recorded everything before promising Lila that she would get a proper interview with a camera once she had recovered and was out of the hospital. There would no doubt be a big special with all sorts of interviews once all of the investigations had died down, and Lila would feature heavily.

Frankly, she couldn't wait. She also couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and go home and eat some _decent_ food and wear her own clothes again. She wanted to be able to have visitors- her classmates no doubt had heard what had happened and wanted to visit, but visitors were heavily restricted and it had taken even Madam Chamack several days to get permission to come in for a short visit. Lila wasn't sure if it was the hospital or the police who had made that decision, but it was _annoying_.

She was _bored_.

The next morning, Lila asked one of her nurses when she would get to leave. Instead of a straightforward answer or a fudging "I'll ask the doctors", she just frowned and shrugged.

 _Any_ answer would have been better than that. Maybe they were tired of asking, or maybe they knew as well as Lila did that between her condition and the police investigation, there was no real way to know when she would get out.

Right after that, another police officer came in for yet _another_ official interview. Lila was getting tired of them by now- wasn't one enough?- but maybe it was because her mom had formally submitted the lawsuit against the superheroes the previous evening.

Lila smirked at that as she reached for the remote to turn on the TV. She wondered how the public had reacted to _that_ , and to her interview. Madam Chamack had seemed shocked by Lila's story but accepted it easily enough, and Lila had to hope that the rest of Paris would be the same.

The superheroes would protest, no doubt, and try to contradict her story, but who was Paris going to believe: them, or the girl who had figured out who Hawkmoth was and tried to confront him on her own, leaving her with a serious injury?

(Lila hoped that she would get her legs back, she really, _really_ did. It had only been a couple days and she wanted to walk, run, _anything_.)

"-continued developments on the Hawkmoth case," Madam Chamack was saying as the screen came to life. "Yesterday afternoon, Paris was shocked by accusations that Ladybug and Chat Noir ignored a tip-off from Lila Rossi, the girl who was injured during her face-off with Hawkmoth. There was even a lawsuit filed against them. Ladybug and Chat Noir refuted the claims yesterday evening, as expected."

"We knew nothing about Lila's efforts to find Hawkmoth, as we said before," Ladybug firmly told the camera in what was clearly a clip from the previous evening. "We take all potential leads _very_ seriously. The police will have records of some of the tips that we received and subsequently investigated in the past, no matter how questionable the source or the accusation."

Madam Chamack's face filled the screen again. "We went to the police department, and while the files are closed due to the fact that they concern private citizens not accused of anything, the chief assured us that they _do_ exist and that the superheroes followed up on all sorts of leads, even ones with absolutely no evidence. And then this morning, while Gabriel Agreste was being moved from a high-security ward at the hospital to the prison, we managed to get a _shocking_ interview with him."

Slightly shaky interview footage filled the screen, with Mr. Agreste in the middle of a ring of burly police officers. There was a flash of Madam Chamack's hair in the corner of the screen as a microphone was thrust into view. "Mr. Agreste! Mr. Agreste, a few questions!" She didn't sound deterred by the police at all, even though several looked less than thrilled about her presence. "Mr. Agreste, you were found after Ms. Rossi spent several weeks following akumas back to your house. Why do you think, out of everyone in Paris-"

"Why did she decide to do that?" Mr. Agreste finished for the reporter. He had come to a stop, and none of the police looked thrilled. He shot one that was clearly trying to nudge him along a disgusted look. "That's easy enough. She told me why. She wanted revenge."

"Revenge?" Madam Chamack sounded confused. Lila was starting to feel a sinking feeling of dread in her gut. "Was she akumatized and wasn't happy about it?"

Mr. Agreste snorted. "Not happy about it? She was _thrilled_ about it. She hates the superheroes and Ladybug in particular after some incident with them, and so she had been accepting akumas on purpose and even grabbing ones destined for others so that she could go after the superheroes. Apparently she was under the impression that doing so would grant her immunity against any akuma attacks."

There was a clear gasp from Madam Chamack. "She was getting akumatized on purpose?"

"She would volunteer for it. Then she got upset that she got targeted once and wanted revenge for that reason. It was hardly for a noble cause, and I don't doubt that she planned on taking out Ladybug and Chat Noir after defeating me." Mr. Agreste was jostled again, harder this time, and he glared at the policeman responsible before returning his attention to Madam Chamack. "If you don't believe me, I have proof. There'll be security camera footage- video _and_ audio _-_ from my lair on the home computer. The camera was there in case there were ever any intruders who came in while I wasn't there."

This was his revenge on her, Lila realized with a sick, sinking feeling. He was going down- there was no getting around that- but he was going to take her down with him. She wouldn't get cleared of the charges for stealing a Miraculous and needlessly endangering it, and at this rate...

She was going to get charged with purposefully colluding with a supervillain. If the police searched her notebooks- and they would now, who was she kidding?- they would see that she had been planning on taking out the superheroes, too.

Unless...unless they didn't listen to a supervillain. Unless they thought that he was just lying to slander her. But he had mentioned proof, and the likelihood of both reporters and police _not_ following up on that was pretty slim.

"After that, while the police searched for the footage, we decided to approach some of Lila's classmates to see what they thought of the accusations," Madam Chamack continued. "Most of them were confused and not sure what to believe. Others, though, are positive that at least part of Lila's story are made up."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was coming. Still, Lila couldn't hold in a hiss when she saw Marinette Dupain-Cheng's face appear on screen.

"Lila tells a lot of stories," she told Madam Chamack. "There was a video of her on the Ladyblog a while back with her claiming that she's Ladybug's best friend, even though she had just arrived in Paris. Anyone could have asked Ladybug about it and had that disproved in seconds."

"Ladybug told Lila to stop spreading lies about her right after that, and Lila didn't listen," another voice chimed in, and Lila scowled when the camera panned out to include Adrien Agreste. Why anyone would bother to interview _him_ , she didn't know. Surely he wasn't considered a reliable source of information, with his father unmasked as Paris's supervillain. "That was the first time that she was akumatized as Volpina."

"She was akumatized again and made the illusions of the fighting Ladybug and Chat Noir on Heroes Day, even though she was claiming that she was in the middle of a trip out of the country," Marinette added. "She was gone from school for several months, claiming that she was on a trip and meeting all of these famous people. I don't know why no one besides us ever fact-checked her story. There were a _ton_ of details that just didn't line up."

"Celebrities not even in the same country that she claimed they were, landscapes behind her with stores that closed years ago- it wasn't that hard to find the posters that she used as a backdrop to her Skype calls," Adrien told Madam Chamack. He wrapped his arm around Marinette's. "And no one ever checked up on that."

"And there were stories that she would tell in class, too- she claimed to have a hearing problem after saving Jagged Stone's kitten on an airplane runway, that's the one I remember most," Marinette finished. "Which is _ridiculous_. It's not hard to find video of Jagged Stone saying that he only likes reptiles and that he's had Fang for _years_. So I'd say that Lila is lying this time, too. Getting super-bent on revenge because of some perceived slight is _totally_ up her alley. She's clearly trying to discredit Ladybug and Chat Noir and all of their hard work for the city."

"And she's certainly been akumatized far more often than anyone else in the city," Adrien added in. "Most of those times- the majority, I'd say- there wasn't even anything that had happened that we knew of to upset her."

"So even before we got our hands on the tape, there were some _serious_ doubts about Lila Rossi's trustworthiness," Madam Chamack said as that clip ended. "Conversations with the teachers at her school confirmed that Lila had told those stories, and a source at the embassy confirmed that Ms. Rossi's mom was not traveling during the time that her daughter claimed. And then we received _this_ clip."

Lila's heart was in her throat as a familiar scene showed up on-screen- Hawkmoth's lair. Glass shattered, and Sting appeared in front of Hawkmoth. They started their exchange, and every word she had said came over loud and clear.

No. _No_. All of her lies, all of her hard work, the careful web that she had spun- all of it was falling apart. Lila buried her hands in her hair, tugging as she tried to figure out some way- _any_ way- out of this. She had to figure out _something_ , anything, anything at _all_.

Nothing came to mind.

There was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal several police officers. All of them had grim looks on their faces, and Lila knew without a doubt that they had already been informed of everything that Madam Chamack had just presented. The questioning that morning hadn't been because of her mom's lawsuit- which was definitely going to get thrown out, if it hadn't been already- it was because they were going to use her own words against her, pointing out where the evidence contradicted her words.

Lila gulped, unable to completely hide her nerves. She had _never_ faced this level of scrutiny before, and had never told such large lies before, either. She hadn't ever done anything worse than threaten a couple people into silence before, and now- now she was facing _multiple_ charges, each more serious than the last.

This time, Lila had to admit, she _might_ have bitten off more than she could chew.

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lila, what exactly did you THINK was going to happen when a Miraculous holder with two weeks of "practice" and no battle experience went up against a supervillain who managed to fling Ladybug and Chat Noir aside on Heroes Day? Realistically a battle like that would have injuries and so Lila learned that the hard way. Overconfidence in one's abilities will do that.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story! I thought it would be fun to do something from a bit of a different POV and have things just totally go off of the tracks and....yeah, it was fun.
> 
> As always, reviews make my day! :)


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